Three's A Crowd
by Midna3452
Summary: Sometimes, a parent's refusal simply isn't enough to keep a curious child out of trouble. This is a tale about three beings, three different perspectives, and once central event tying everything altogether... Whoever said there's only one side to a story?
1. The Father's Perspective

**Three's A Crowd**

 **There is always more than one side to a story. In this case, the first experience you'll read about is that of William Afton, who is in the midst of a phone call with a business partner. His take is unique in that you'll only get to hear Afton's dialogue of the phone call- no outside detail, no "setting the scene."**

 **Don't worry if the events taking place aren't completely clear just yet. At this point, they aren't clear to William, either.**

* * *

 **The Father's Perspective**

"It was never my intention to make them so... _smart._ The Artificial Intelligence program I installed got out of control, and before I could shut it down, they became self-aware.

"...No, I wouldn't feel comfortable letting anyone but myself do that. Each character has their own personal AI server, which is located within the chest section of the endoskeleton. The technicians could _physically_ remove them, yes, but-

"Sweetheart, no, you can't go play with her. I've told you this time and time again; she's too dangerous for you to be around.

"...Sorry, what was I saying? Ah, right- while I'm more than confident in the technicians' abilities to physically remove the AI server, I doubt the animatronics would let them get close enough to let them _try._ No, the best solution would be for me to-

"I said 'no,' Darling. I _know_ that the other children are in there, but they don't make her as upset as-

"...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound harsh. You are _not_ an upsetting person, she's just... sensitive... Stay here, please.

"...Forgive me, my daughter is with me and she's quite the talkative type, haha... Anyway, I think the best solution would be for me to remove the AI servers myself. I am probably the only person that they might somewhat listen to. Once I remove the servers, I'll re-work the AI and also install some outside, ah... _incentive_ for them to listen, if you'd like. Like an electric shock or something of that nature... Certainly, I can get started on that right away.

"...Wait, hold on a moment; how did that door get opened?! Sweetheart? Sweetheart, where are you?

"...

"Oh no... Oh no, no, no, _no_ , she can't have...

"I-I have to go; my daughter, she- _What the hell was that noise?!_

"M-My daughter...! _I have to go!"_


	2. The Daughter's Perspective

**Though there are certainly more than two players in this overarching story as a whole, at this point and time only William and his daughter have a piece of the story to tell. You've heard the father's side- or, at least, you could infer as much as he did whilst in the midst of that phone call. Now, it's time for another perspective: that of the daughter he so easily brushed off.**

* * *

 **The Daughter's Perspective**

The young girl stared at the door, green eyes fixated so hard that she felt as if she might burn a hole through the metal. Of course, this didn't happen, so she turned her attention to the man sitting in a swivel chair in an adjacent corner of the small room. Blonde curls bounced as the child tilted her head questioningly.

"Daddy, won't you let me play with her?" the girl asked in her sweetest, most sugar-coated voice, clasping her hands behind her back. Her father, currently in the midst of a phone call, flicked his eyes towards her.

"Sweetheart, no, you can't go play with her," the man said, gently cupping a hand over the mouthpiece of the black, rotary phone. "I've told you this time and time again; she's too dangerous for you to be around." With that abrupt dismissal, he removed his hand from the mouthpiece and began speaking into it once again.

The girl pouted. It wasn't _fair!_ She'd yet to find a satisfying explanation as to why only _she_ wasn't allowed to play with her father's latest creation. He'd taken her to see all of the _other_ animatronics- even some from another franchise location! The girl got to see Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Mangle, just to name a few... Even the weird Puppet had come out to play while she'd been in the Prize Room, staring at her with those dark, soulless eyes. But despite all of this, the young girl wasn't satisfied.

"Daddy, you let the _other_ children go see her!" she whined, walking up to her father and tugging on his purple-uniformed-sleeve. "Why won't you let _me_ go?"

The man seemed annoyed. Once again covering the mouthpiece, he lightly shook off the child at his arm, trying to sound calm. "I said 'no,' Darling. I _know_ that the other children are in there, but they don't make her as upset as-"

At these words, the girl's eyes began to water. The man in the chair let out a soft sigh, placed the phone on the desk, and gently patted the girl's head.

"...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound harsh." He tried his best to smile, although his growing exhaustion was obvious in every tiny movement that he made. "You are _not_ an upsetting person, she's just... sensitive."

"Daddy, just _once_ let me go play with her! She's so pretty and shiny!" Though the young girl no longer looked as if she were about to burst into tears, her desire to see the robot still remained. "Didn't you make her just for me?"

The older man's face clouded over, as if he suddenly remembered something very dark and unwanted. Refusing to address his daughter's question, he simply responded, "...Stay here, please." Then, he picked up the phone and turned halfway towards the far wall, slightly angling his body away from the only other human presence in the room.

Though this mildly standoffish behavior was nothing new to the girl, she still found herself frowning at the fact that, yet again, her father refused to answer the simple question of " _Why?"_

 _Why_ couldn't she meet her animatronic counterpart? _Why_ could _other_ children see her and have parties with her, but not the very person the robot was modeled after?

Knowing she'd get no further information from her father at the current time, the girl once again wandered over to the door. They were in a small security office of Circus Baby's Pizza World, separated from the Party Rooms by only a few thin, plaster-coated walls. Pressing her ear against the cold door, the blonde girl could hear excited shouts and gleeful exclamations of children being entertained by none other than Circus Baby herself. Though the voices were faint, the girl swore she heard a yell that sounded vaguely like, "Balloons!"

"Daddy she can make _balloons_!" she exclaimed, turning back to her father, a huge grin spread across her face. She'd temporarily forgotten about that aspect of the animatronic. If memory served her correctly, she thought that Circus Baby also had the capability to make ice cream- although, since her father refused to _tell_ her anything else about the robot, she wasn't entirely sure. "Have you seen her make balloons? Oh, daddy, let me go to her!"

Wearing a harsh frown, the purple-suited man aggressively waved a hand as if shooing away an annoying gnat, and fully turned to face the wall. The message was all too clear:

 _I'm busy; stop bothering me._

The girl's smile once again slipped into a sad grimace. He _always_ did this to her- he _always_ pushed her away. Deep down, she knew that he loved her, just as he loved all of his children. Her father had taken on a more distant roll as a parent, or so her brother's claimed, soon after the girl's birth; directly leading up to this behavior was the fact that, during the girl's first year of life, the children's father and the mother split up for good. So, though her brothers were familiar with the man their father _used_ to be, the girl herself grew up knowing him as the distant-yet-deep-down-caring parent that he currently portrayed himself as.

Frankly, she was growing tired of it. Not letting her even _see_ the creation he had (supposedly) so lovingly modeled after her proved to be the final straw. It wasn't like the young girl wanted to crawl all over the robot- she had enough self-control not to touch things when told she shouldn't. All she wanted to do was _look._

Suddenly, an idea sparked inside her juvenile mind. She glanced at the door, then to her father, then back to the door again. She bit her lip, nervously tugging at the bottom of her blue skirt.

"Daddy isn't watching...," she mumbled to herself. Immediately, she clapped a hand over her mouth, fearing that her father would respond to her voice. Thankfully, it seemed as though the man in the chair hadn't heard her comment. The girl gazed longingly at the door again.

She would only step out for a few minutes; just long enough to get a good look at Circus Baby, and then she'd be right back! She wouldn't touch the robot, not even just a tap. After all, her father told her that the first rule when watching any of the animatronics was to "look, but not touch." She was a good girl; this was the first time she ever even _thought_ of disobeying her father, and she knew in the pit of her stomach that she shouldn't go. And yet...

Quietly, the girl tiptoed over to the door, turned the handle, and slowly pushed. Once the crack opened just wide enough for her to slip through, the child spared one last glance at her tired, over-worked father. She smiled softly, knowing that no matter how furious he would appear if he found out what she was doing, in the end he'd be happy as long as she remained safe and sound.

Then, the girl shut the door and turned to face one of the long, dingy hallways of Circus Baby's Pizza World. She listened for a few seconds, trying to pinpoint which direction the shouts of other children were coming from. Angling to her right, the girl darted off down the hallway, excited beyond belief. Finally, she would get to meet Circus Baby, the animatronic created just for her with as much love as her father could pour into the metallic performer.

Finally, the girl's long-awaited dream was about to come true.


End file.
